1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air bag apparatus preferably applied to a front seat next to the driver in an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
An automobile is generally provided with air bag apparatuses, which are installed in a steering wheel, a instrument panel and such, for protection of passengers from a shock caused by a collision of the automobile. The air bag apparatuses deploy air bags toward the passengers by means of gas supplied by inflators provided therein. An air bag apparatus applied to a front seat next to the driver usually has a larger volume of an air bag than one applied to the driver's seat, which is usually installed in the steering wheel, and is provided with a rectangular box-shaped case, a folded air bag housed therein and a columnar inflator housed therein.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H04-92738 discloses an art of an air bag apparatus, which is provided with a plurality of inflators selectively activated depending on a condition. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H02-310142 discloses another art of an air bag apparatus, which is provided with a pair of installation holes on a base plate thereof and adjacent to each other and respectively installed disc-like inflators. According to the art, one of the inflators can be slightly delayed in activation behind another and such a configuration gives a change in a property of an internal pressure increase of the air bag. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-187512 disclose a still another art of an air bag apparatus, in which a folded air bag is wrapped in a seat and hence deploys as if dodging the passenger at a first stage of deploying.